1973/I missed you

I missed you
Date of Scene:	29 September 2016
Location:	Seiyou Public School - Royal Garden
Synopsis:	Amu returns! Tadase is the first to find out!
Cast of Characters:	Tadase Hotori, Amu Hinamori

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Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase's in the Royal Garden, alone today, though the scones and tea at his side show evidence of Nadeshiko's recent presence on some level. He's working through everyone's favorite Guardian activity: Paperwork!

The look on his face is intent and focused though - like all of his other important roles, Tadase takes things like this as seriously as anything else.

It's Kiseki who's showing the other side of Tadase, laying on the table to his right, feet kicking back and forth in the air, drawing a picture of (surprise) Kiseki.

"Tadase... are you almost done? I'm bored." Kiseki says.

"Yeah, I'm almost done. Just a few more of these to read. It's requests for the Fall Dance we're going to put on - you know, ideas and suggestions."

"...who are you going to dance with this time, Tadase?" Kiseki asks, quietly.

"Can't be Nadeshiko, I'm sure she'll dance with Kukai. And Amu's still in Europe, so it won't be anybody. I guess I'd better start thinking up excuses now..." he says, with a sigh before he returns to the papers.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori smiled as she walked into the garden, quietly opening the door ad closing it behind her. Silent, stealthy. Like a ninja. He was going to be exstatic. Why shouldn't he be? She thought of this moment so long. She had her bag over her shoulder, wearing her normal outfit. It looked as if she'd jsut grabbed it casually. But she hadn't. she'd spent THREE HOURS trying to decide what to wear. Before finally deciding on what he knew best. She walked through the trees and barely managed to not eep, chewing on her finger nervously. Her prince. So. So cute. Ohhhh, she was going to be so casual, so calm, so--

"Character change!" Wait, what? All of a sudden, RAN! Her plus sign became a heart and then she raced up. "MY PRINCE!" and foot steps would be the last think he'd hear. Kiseki would probably appear... and then regret it. Before he had a chance to rant, he was picked up, glomped and then SPUN AROUND! "Oh my prince I missed you soooo much I thought about you all the time every day and eeee and I'm so happy to be back and i'm never ever leaving again and if I do you're coming with me because we're going to get married and have so many cute kids and I can't wait to spend all the time in the world with you I didn't even finish unpacking eeeee!"

And then it all stopped. She character changed back. She stared at him aaaaaand her spirit tried to flee her body. Her guardian spirits shrieked and raced about, trying to get her back into her body before it could ascend to heaven. Fortunately, as fast as they were spinning, Tadase and Kiseki hopefully didn't get ALL of that. But hey, she was gone a long, long time!

Tadase Hotori has posed:
It's a blur. It is a red-and-pink-and-black and Amu blur that it takes him a moment to recognize that it is Amu. And a lot of the specific words are lost somewhere between the chara-change rant that never happens and trying to adjust to being lifted up by someone at random.

But when it does, oh does his face ever light up. And not just with sparkles, but with a genuine sort of joy that could simply never be manufactured or fake.

"AMU!~" Tadase shouts out, and then it's him that picks her up and spins - though only for a single revolution, he's not chara-changed! - and hugs her tight. Tadase, though, doesn't actually let her go.

"If I'm dreaming just let me daydream, okay Kiseki?" he says, before resting his chin on her head. There's a little bit of a height difference there. "But I hope I'm not dreaming."

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori blinked and then that smile. It brought her spirit back. Then a single spin and he was holding her. Ohhh her prince was holding her. Her cheeks turned red and she stood there, feeling his head on hers, smelling his scent.

"That's our Amu, always with the smelling," Miku said with a smirk.

Amu was in too good a mood to notice or care. "I'm back, for real. I just got in last night. I tried to find you, but, well, I didn't want to bother you at home. Dad told me last week he was done so I'm back. I'll be coming to classes tomorrow, of course. But for now I just get to unpack and be with my friends and my..." Her cheeks went even redder. "B-boyfriend. I... missed you, Tadase-kun. So much."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
"There is no way you could ever bother me by showing up." Tadase says, squeezing her. "I've missed you a lot too. It was... really sudden when you vanished, and I've just been waiting hoping you'd come back. It was hard not knowing when you would be back..." he says, growing quiet. Eventually he breaks the hug and just smiles. He smiles so wide.

"But that's not important I guess, because you're here!" he says, and it's hard to keep himself from hopping up and down a little bit. "Nothing else really matters."

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori blushed. "S-sorry. I know it was sudden and... and I wanted to let you know when... when..." Oh my gosh he was hopping. The prince was hopping! Her hands clasped together and she just kind of standing swooned, staring at him with heart eyes. Oh my gosh he was soooooo cuuuuuuute! She shook herself out of it a moment later, tapping her cheeks.

"Right! Well... how about I help you with the rest of this paperwork, then we go out. Okay? I thought the others would be here too, a shame. I was hoping to see all of you guys."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase smiles and then just looks at her and almost has to shake himself out, back to paying attention and not lost in his mind. "Okay, you can help me with the paperwork, but first... I know you just got back, but there's something very important to ask."

"I'm working on the suggestions for the Fall Dance, and I don't know what the theme is or anything, but I know I'd like to ask you to go there with me." It might be a formality to ask one's girlfriend to a dance, and one a month or so in advance, but Tadase is often a little bit over-formal - and the dance is on his mind.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori blinked for a moment. She wondered if he was going to ask her to hold onto the humpty lock for longer. She didn't mind. Granted, she'd need it to character transform, but she was certain he was taking good care of it.

Then he asked that. Internally she was like OH MY GOSH YES HE'S ASKING ME TO A DANCE OH YAY YAY BEST EVER EEEEEE! But externally she chuckled and brushed her hair back before reaching out and lightly tapping him on the forehead. "Of course, you big dope. Who else would I go with?" Ran snickered. "Oh, don't worry. She's super happy you asked her out. She's just being stubborn." "RAN!"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase is, for a moment, taken aback. He's not used to Amu's stubborness and reactions like this - not after being away from her for so long. It might be a rose-tinted glasses moment, remmebering only the good times together and not... well, the way Amu's outer character sometimes hides the inner character.

But it goes away and there's Ran to help bring it back to reality, and so Tadase went from concerned and off balanced to laughing a little bit, then laughing a little louder.

He taps her back on the forehead too. "But I should still ask. I don't want to risk the wrath of Seiyou's Cool and Spicy girl for just assuming I was entitled." he says with a smirk.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori blushed and squirmed a little. "I just... I mean... err, w-well, if you want to do something like that, I-I guess. Yeah. I'm sure I'll get a new dress or something for it, too." Miki's eyes glowed. "SHOPPING TIME! Don't listen to a word of it, Tadase, she can't wait to go shopping and get all dressed up."

Amu shrieked and glared up at them. "Ran! Miki! Quiet!" Su giggled into her palm. "But it's all true." "Su, not you too!" She quickly sat down and tried going through the paperwork, her face soooo red.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Kiseki has been watching it all unfold but only now does he pipe up. "I'm glad you're back, Amu." Kiseki says, seriously. "Now maybe Tadase will do something other than try not to think about you being gone."

aaaand it's Tadase's turn to grab his Chara and shove him into his shirt pocket, upside down. And Tadase laughs uncomfortably and goes back to his own paperwork too, a blush almost matching Amu's. He breaks the silence by speaking up. "I'm sure the others can't wait to see you too. But I'm so glad you came to see me, Amu." he says, and then returns VERY INTENTLY to his work.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori and so begins the work. It continues as, well, you'd expect for a shounen anime. They reach for pens at the same time, they grab letters together. Their hands touch. She manages to teleport ten feet away and apologize before coming back and holding the pencil out for him to take, her heart pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it.

Of course, eventually, the romantic paperwork would finish and she'd pull back, exhausted and panting. "Ugggggggh. I didn't miss that. I'm soooo thankful being joker means I don't have to do it that often. I'd fall soooo behind on my homework."

"As opposed to now," Miki snarked.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase smiles. "You know you could take the Queen spot." he says, calmly. "Na-Chan has talked about being changed over to an Ace spot. If she does that, then I have an open spot." he says, nodding. "King and Queen, it kinda makes sense, doesn't it? I know you used to not like being Joker."

He finishes his last paper. "But I also know you don't like paperwork, so..." he looks over at her with that same smile as before, a bit tricky.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori blinked. Being his queen. She stared, her cheeks going so red. Being Tadase's queen. His ACTUAL queen. She daydreamed for a moment, imagining herself in a royal gown, the skirt flowing around her, held safely in Tadase's arms as he gazed lovingly into her--

"w-what? I mean, errr, n-no, of course not. I-I'd never be able to get that paperwork done. Besides, n-now that I'm back I really need to get focused on x-egg purifying. C-can't worry about all that paperwork, eh heh. You know, joker duties and all that." Her heart was hammering. "I uhhh... I'll need the humpty lock back."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase smiles again, so wide. He's already getting used to that stammering, outer-character which is a thin shell if you know how to see it. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the lock on a little chain. "I was just keeping it safe for you here. But I know that it's just the same as it was the first day I gave it to you - it belongs to you."

"I needed it to remind me of you, but I don't anymore, because I've got you right here again." he says, reaching over and taking her hand, squeezing it in his.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori stared at him, feeling his hand in hers. It was so warm. So comforting. So soft. His hands were probably softer than hers. She wondered if her moisturized. She looked down at the lock. It had been with him all this time, always with him. Her heart pounding so hard she knew he could hear it. He had to. everyone could.

Miki grinned. "My oh my, Tadase-kun's gotten a lot smoother than I remember." She rubbed her chin. "Almost as smooth as that french guy, pierre." And that broke it. Amu snagged the lil blue guardian and stuffed him in her belt. "H-how about we go get some shakes now? We're all done, right?" She reached up, putting the lock around her neck, as she used to.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase is, of course, not trying to be smooth. Much as erver, it's more a cause of being honest and being lucky. It was probably only a little while before it came back to bite him in a spectacular way, and he was smart enough to know that and revel in the success he was having for the moment.

"Yeah, I think that'd be good. I could use a milksha- I mean an Ice Cream Smoothie, I guess." He stands up and then stops. "What was Miki talking about?" Tadase asks.

Sometimes Amu is lucky he's often terminally clueless.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori quickly got to her feet, reaching out to take his hand. "Oh, nothing. You know how Miki can be. Always mouthing off about something or another." She'd locked the back. Miki could be heard trying to get out. Yes, the lock was new.

She grabbed his hand and led him out, practically pulling him out. Away from where Miki had distracted them! "Yes, to ice cream smoothies. It's been soooo long since the two of us were able to just sit down and enjoy ourselves, right?"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase is somewhat happily dragged along by Amu - he's not dumb, just misses things. He knows she's hiding something, it's just the what he's unsure of. But... there are also more important things, like returning girlfriends and milkshakes.

"Way too long, Amu." he says with a smile as he's lead away.